Professor at center of UNC academic fraud case resigns

UNC Scandal33

Link

Don’t be surprised if there are some changes coming in UNC’s Portuguese Department in the future as well. Link to discussion

More to come…

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UNC Scandal

33 Responses to Professor at center of UNC academic fraud case resigns

  1. TruthBKnown Returns 09/01/2011 at 4:54 PM #

    He only resigned as CHAIR of that department. He will remain employed in a teaching role.

    The fact that he’s still teaching… could that be considered a form of “hush money”? I mean, he’s keeping his job when he should really be out. Right?

  2. packhammer 09/01/2011 at 4:59 PM #

    A “prestigious Southern university”? Still pumping out the old time Koolade for the masses. For once can’t those guys just say it straight? They must have some kind of “branding police” in Chapel Hill to review all press statements, articles, and speeches. Anytime you speak of Unc you must refer to it as the premier University of all the world. Newsflash. You guys are not better than everybody else. In fact you aren’t as good as a bunch of other places.

  3. Tampa-Pack 09/01/2011 at 5:13 PM #

    Man, the “hush” budget is almost as large as the actual budget over at the hill…

  4. packof81 09/01/2011 at 5:14 PM #

    The steady stream continues.

  5. tuckerdorm1983 09/01/2011 at 5:20 PM #

    Has he benefited from affirmative action in his education (Miami University (MA, PHD) and Duke (JD)) and in his academic career (full professor and chair) ???

    Whether or not can never be really known because the principals involved would never admit it.

    I will say this not many professors at UNC are full professor and chair of their departments and have credentials as weak as his (Miami University in Oxford OH is no Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc). I know he has a law degree from Duke, but social science professors don’t care a wit about law degrees

    I conclude he is an affirmative action hire and now those politically correct so and sos that hired him are being bitten in the ass by one of their own and they deserve it.

  6. Hungwolf 09/01/2011 at 5:30 PM #

    Never seen people do so many wrong things and yet everyone still gets paid? The professor is guilty which means the athletic department is just as guilty, they should all be fired with no pay!

  7. packalum44 09/01/2011 at 5:46 PM #

    It takes a tenured professor something like a felony to get fired.

  8. TruthBKnown Returns 09/01/2011 at 5:57 PM #

    So if a tenured professor commits academic fraud, it’s still difficult to fire him (or her)?

  9. tuckerdorm1983 09/01/2011 at 6:02 PM #

    here is a case where a professor got fired at UNC and he had tenure.

    http://www.johnlocke.org/news_columns/display_story.html?id=632

    Barry Nakel got caught for shoplifting 3 times. That is not a felony. But he was not an affirmative action hire. Go figure

  10. GAWolf 09/01/2011 at 6:03 PM #

    I think the academia bureaucracy might actually be more absurd than the that of the throngs of state government teet suckers in NC.

    It’s unreal to me that no one gets fired. Ever.

  11. old13 09/01/2011 at 6:49 PM #

    Remember that Oblinger is still employed by NCSU at the N.C. Research Campus – same thing IMO.

  12. NCSU88 09/01/2011 at 7:55 PM #

    Where is the accountability?

  13. john of sparta 09/01/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    +1 old. hush money.

  14. Hungwolf 09/01/2011 at 9:36 PM #

    All Moves by UNC-CHeat have been reactionary moves based on unethical conduct found by others such as media, pack pride, lawsuit for records, NCAA, etc. UNC-Cheat has yet to announce anything found in-house in regards to wrong doing and corrected it without pressure from the media and the NCAA. Without the N&O editorial, does the professor resign? I doubt it! How can the BOG continue to ignore such blantant problems at UNC-CHeat, an independent investigation is way overdue!!!

  15. NCSU84 09/01/2011 at 10:31 PM #

    Tuckerdorm1983,

    Are you stating that all in high ranking positions that minorities hold are affirmative action hires? Are you insinuating that all minorities received their graduate degrees based on a quota system? What is the basis for your statements? Your comments sound a little racist to me, and such comments are not appropriate for this board.

  16. sundropdrinker13 09/01/2011 at 11:17 PM #

    Affirmative action in of itself is a racist program.

  17. TruthBKnown Returns 09/01/2011 at 11:40 PM #

    sundrop, that’s true. I agree completely. By definition, it is a racist program.

    But I think the point was that it is racist to assume a black man has his job BECAUSE of affirmative action.

  18. blpack 09/02/2011 at 12:01 AM #

    Hush $ to protect the hoops program so certain things will not come out?

  19. BureauOfMines 09/02/2011 at 12:50 AM #

    The Nakel story is interesting. The chancellor and law school dean evidently couldn’t sit still for a klepto being a law professor. But the N&O defended Nakel. Was he crazy? No doubt and he probably _wanted_ to get caught. Heck. He did it again after they fired him.

    Evidently they DO fire professors but it takes some extremely bad behavior for a professor to get fired.

  20. Gene 09/02/2011 at 3:46 AM #

    “Miami University in Oxford OH is no Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc”

    Neither is NCSU.

    We’re a school with only a regional reputation and a very low level of recognition on the national stage, by John Q. Public.

    Some departments at NCSU have a solid enough reputation that PhD candidates can go on to positions in academia.

    I don’t know much about Miami (OH), but I do not know of any college that just spits out PhD’s because somebody enrolled, showed up to class, did their homework on time and got B’s on their exams.

    The reality of most large colleges, NCSU included, is teaching, especially undergrads, isn’t a major consideration of why a professor is granted tenure. If he’s easy or hard, it just doesn’t matter.

    Getting their research published is what keeps them employed.

    I’m assuming the quality of his research must be good enough to earn tenure by enhancing the reputation of his department and the standing of UNC-Ch.

    Tuckerdorm83, what laws did Nyango’ro (sp?) break? Shop-lifting is illegal, even though it is not a felony.

    Not realizing your student is plagiarizing his Swahili paper isn’t a crime.

    It may be bad professional judgement on the professor’s part, but then again he isn’t paid because of how tough he is on teaching undergrads or how diligent he is in grading undergrads homework.

  21. tuckerdorm1983 09/02/2011 at 6:59 AM #

    I am not saying all hires of minorities are affirmative action hires. Of course they are not. I am saying some are and this brings all hires of minorities into question by society. That is why I am against affirmative action. Reverse discrimination is still discrimination and is racist policy also.

    “There is only one race, the human race” Justice Clarence Thomas

    Check out the credentials of many of the professors at UNC, especially in the humanities and social sciences. Academic programs are ranked by US News and World Report yearly. Take an academic program at UNC like the department of Political Science at UNC of which I have a PHD from. Look at the credentials of the Professors. You will see they only hire from the elite programs, except when it comes to minorities.

    Finally,

  22. tuckerdorm1983 09/02/2011 at 7:10 AM #

    Gene
    I was just giving an example of a professor being fired. That is what it takes and that was done by Chancellor Hooker. Revoking tenure is a very big deal.

    As for Miami University, it don’t believe it even appears in the US News and World Reports ranking of Political Science programs.

    My beloved NCSU produces tremendous PHDs, but not in its Political Science program. I believe it only offers MA.

  23. state73 09/02/2011 at 7:12 AM #

    Thorp is both clueless and ball-less. Removing the prof. as department does very little. He is still on the staff making a hugh salary and “teaching”. If you wish to clean up anything you must get rid of the filth.

  24. Lock 09/02/2011 at 8:58 AM #

    tucker, I’m against AA too and agree that it has a reverse-racism feel and causes harm between the races.

    However, you’re shoehorning your AA grudge into a sports website. Bringing that up now, for no reason other than because you have a bone to pick with AA, feels off. AA has nothing to do with the scandals at UNC and you come off kinda odd bringing it up out of nowhere. You’re jumping to conclusions, and in a manner that will naturally cause others to question your intents.

  25. YogiNC 09/02/2011 at 9:08 AM #

    At the root of all this is ultimately academic fraud, worst case, and best case is ineptitude and shoddy work. If I did something to undermine the integrity or good name of the company I work for my boss would have “cause” for terminating me. We don’t know the depth of his transgressions, and probably never will.

    We do know that on the face of it he could easily be terminated at just about any place of employment in this state (right to work state which means an employer really doesn’t need a reason to fire you, you are employed at their discretion). I can say without a doubt he wouldn’t have a job today if he worked where I work.

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